The Vicuna is the smallest species of the Llama genus. It is the same
size as a Sheep, and strongly resembles the Llama, only that its shape
is more elegant. Its legs, which are longer in proportion to the body,
are more slender and better formed; its head is shorter and its forehead
wider. Its eyes are large, intelligent and mild; its throat is of a
yellowish color, while the remainder of its body is brown and white.
The rich fleece of this animal surpasses in fineness and softness any
other wool with which we are acquainted. In order to obtain possession
of the skin the American hunters pursue them even over the steepest
summits of the Andes, when, by driving, they force them into pens,
composed of tightly stretched cords, covered with rags of various
colors, which frighten and prevent the prey attempting to escape. One of
these battues sometimes produces from five hundred to a thousand skins.